Overweight Dragon

[PoliticalKid]

So I rescued a dragon today and when I picked him up it was clear there were several husbandry issues. The owner said he will only eat roaches and refuses salad (although her version of salad was kale 100% of the time). He seems incredibly overweight though. Before today I didn't know that it was possible for a lizard to have fat rolls. I don't have a scale right now but I will soon so then I can track his weight. Does anyone have any suggestions to help him lose weight and start eating salad and other insects? It's really a shame that he didn't grow up with proper care because his growth was stunted (my 5 month old dragon is bigger then this 3 year old). I can tell that once he's under proper lighting and eating a healthy diet he'll be a real looker. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Sauzo]

I'm kind of confused here. You said he didn't have proper care and is stunted yet he's so fat it's very noticeable? Generally a plump dragon means he's been well fed. Maybe not the right ratio of veggies to bugs but he obviously has been eating well if he's a pudgeball. I agree that a salad of kale only is a failure but I'm not sure how he is stunted if he's fat unless you mean he was underfed as a baby. As for losing weight, only thing I can think of would be to feed him less bugs and more salad. You can't really exercise a reptile like a dog. And if that's him on the left in your sig, he really doesn't look that bad. To me he looks well rounded.

 

[PoliticalKid]

I'm kind of confused here. You said he didn't have proper care and is stunted yet he's so fat it's very noticeable? Generally a plump dragon means he's been well fed. Maybe not the right ratio of veggies to bugs but he obviously has been eating well if he's a pudgeball. I agree that a salad of kale only is a failure but I'm not sure how he is stunted if he's fat unless you mean he was underfed as a baby. As for losing weight, only thing I can think of would be to feed him less bugs and more salad. You can't really exercise a reptile like a dog. And if that's him on the left in your sig, he really doesn't look that bad. To me he looks well rounded.

That is him on the left but it's a photo of him when he was 6 months old. His diet was really quite atrocious, he was fed way too many roaches, and he never got any proper salad, calcium, or multivitamins. His lighting wasn't ideal either. I do believe his growth was stunted because of how small he is. He's MAYBE 15 inches and that's being generous. My 5 month old is 16 inches. Also I know they don't really exercise, but allowing him to move around outside of his tank is better then leaving him in there 24/7 like they used to.

 

[DaveDragon10]

yeh, he was feed well, just not balanced meals. Just do what you can. but be aware, its going to be tought. he may be acustom to that diet.

 

[Sauzo]

Ah, yeah the lack of vitamins and lighting isn't good and 15 inches for a 3 year old is small but size isn't really purely based on diet. Some dragons just don't have the genes to be huge while some are just monsters off the get go. But I do agree 15 inches at 3 years is small. And yes letting them out of the cage is good too but some just aren't active. Harley is 8 months old and when she comes out, she usually will sit on me or sit on the couch or sit on the keyboard and watch the screens while I work or play or sit on the bed and look around. But regardless, dragons don't seem like the most active guys except during feeding time :lol: Anyways like Dave said, be prepared cause if he was used to a certain diet, it will prolly be hard to break him out of it. Also roaches are a pretty good staple but not exclusively at 3 years old.